Trail of daisies
by remuswolfylupin
Summary: After his cousin dies at the age of 12 in the Hunger Games, Krasimir is determined to become a victor of the Games, in her memory and for District 11. He refuses to let anything or anyone get in his way. Unfortunately, his friendliness, his hatred of violence, and the adorable, curly haired boy from District 1, might just prevent him from achieving his goal.
1. Prologue

_Hello! Long time no see...er, you know. This is a very special story for one of my most dearest friends. (She goes by the penname NiryLae on here, if you want to read her amazing Klaine work!)_

_Krasimir and Reed are our babies, our original characters who are both absolutely adorable and lovable. Their relationship is too perfect for words to describe. We love writing little stories and drabbles using these two, though we do have our original canon!Svetson storyline we stick close to in reference._

_This starts out with Kras, because he's my baby. My friend isn't too thrilled that I'm making them suffer so much throughout this story, because, as we all well know...only one person can become the victor of the Hunger Games. (Well...unless your name is Katniss or Peeta...)_

_I'm mainly posting this for her and another friend, but please feel free to let me know what you think!_

* * *

The distant sound of a bell reached Krasimir's ears. It rang the end of the work day, meaning he should probably return home soon. As it was, he stayed where he sat, hidden amongst the trees at the edge of the work field. He was waiting for _his_ signal to sound before he returned home. As he waited he twirled a small daisy he was holding loosely between his fingers. It was for his cousin, if she ever decided to show up.

Tomorrow was a big day and he knew his cousin was nervous; he knew that all the kids in their district were nervous. Krasimir, himself, was not. After all, what were the chances either he or his cousin's name would be called? Or even his best friend's for that matter? He and Andrei were both only thirteen; Livisa was only twelve. None of them had been allowed to put their names in more than they should, thanks to their families who would rather starve than see their beloved children up on the Capitol's big screen.

"Raz?"

A small, girlish voice interrupted Krasimir's thoughts. He looked up to the sound of rustling leaves as his cousin pushed through into his little clearing. "Livvy! Why didn't you let me know you were almost here?"

Livisa giggled, plopping down on the ground, curling her legs up to the side as she leaned against him. "Sorry, I forgot. Distracted by thoughts of tomorrow, you know? Here…" She sang a little melody out loud for him. A few seconds later the air was filled with her melody, whistled by the mockingjays they could only hear but not see high up in the trees.

"Now I can go home." Krasimir smiled, kissing his cousin on the top of her head. "And don't be nervous about tomorrow, Livvy. Your name's only in there once. It won't be called."

"But…what about you, Raz? Or Andrei?"

Krasimir figured the odds were quite in their favor as well, but then again he had seen a boy get picked a few years back that had only had his name in three times. You just never knew. "I'm sure we'll be safe too. Now why don't we head on back and stop at Andrei's for a drink?"

He handed her the daisy he had found, grinning as she squealed in delight. They made their way back towards their district's village, managing to avoid the peacekeepers along the way. The security here was not as tight as it was in some of the other districts, seeing as it was one of the furthest at number 11, but it was still worse than they had heard it was in District 12. The peacekeepers here still managed to discipline quite a few people throughout the day. Krasimir never worried about his chances of getting on the wrong side of a peacekeeper; he wasn't one to be a rule breaker, nor did he hold a love of trouble in the first place. He preferred peace and friendliness; and thankfully his family and friends tended to as well, meaning he didn't have to worry about them as much as he might otherwise…not that it stopped him from worrying nonetheless.

The sky was getting darker as they reached the main dirt street, only a few houses away from Andrei's. Rain was probably heading their way in the near future. Hopefully it wasn't a thunderstorm; Livisa was terrified of those and Krasimir could not stay the night at her and her mom's house thanks to the Reaping being the next day.

Just as they were reaching their best friend's home, Andrei popped out the front door and ran towards them, practically barreling Krasimir over with the force of his tackle. "You said you were going to be here right after work today, Raz! I've been worried!"

"That's my fault, Drei." Livisa giggled, managing to squirm her way in between the two boys for a group hug. "I'm really nervous about tomorrow so I begged Raz to meet me out in the clearing to talk."

Andrei grinned, kissing the top of Livisa's head. "Well, I could never be mad at you for being nervous about Reaping Day. So it's all forgiven. Now let's go inside; I want to at least spend _some_ time with you all before tomorrow."

The three of them went inside, saying hello to Andrei's father before heading into a different room. Since last year, it had become a decided tradition between the three of them that every year, the day before the Reaping, they would all hang out together before they had to head home for the night. Maybe it was not positive thinking, making a tradition out of fear, but if one of them were to get picked, then that day, that evening before, would be the last chance the three would have to be together. It was better than nothing.

Krasimir had been protective of his younger cousin since they were two and three, and Andrei had come into their lives about five years later to shortly become their closest friend. He didn't think he could stand the idea of losing either one of them. Later that night, as he drifted off to sleep, Krasimir silently prayed to whoever was out there listening that neither his, Livisa, or Andrei's names would be called out tomorrow on that dreadful stage.


	2. Chapter 1

Bright, morning light filtered in through Reed's bedroom curtains, effectively waking him up. He squinted against the blinding light and pulled the covers up over his head. Just a few more minutes; he was allowed that much, right?

It was another Reaping Day; the fifth one he has had to be a part of, having to stand with all the other kids in the twelve to eighteen year range, waiting and praying that their names aren't the ones being called. Well, in Reed's case he's hoping and praying for that. Most of the other children in his district were praying for just the opposite – they _wanted_ their names to be called.

District 1, Reed's district, was the closest to the Capitol, and most definitely the wealthiest out of the twelve. It made luxury goods and created lots of unique looks and styles in means of decorating and beautifying the Capitol's residents.

Reed's family was pretty well known throughout District 1, and even throughout much of the Capitol, as his mother was probably the top hairstylist the district had, and his father made stunning pieces of jewelry that the Capitol women practically drooled over.

Because of his current age, Reed had to spend most of his time learning and training for the Capitol's main event of the year: the Hunger Games; a brutal, horrifying game of survival between twenty four tributes – two from each of the twelve districts, one boy and one girl – where only one person could become the victor. It wasn't too much of a surprise that the tributes from the first three districts tended to win more often, especially those from districts 1 and 2. The kids from these districts trained hard for the games, even before they were old enough to compete, showing pride for their districts and even volunteering for the games as well. They were generally known as 'Careers' and would tend to band together during the games to kill off the weaker tributes.

Unfortunately for Reed, he wasn't exactly what one would think of as District 1's most desirable tribute. He wasn't a fighter, nor was he very good at stealth either. Since he was at least young his parents had him training with the other kids his age, but he mainly just ended up getting picked on for his push over nature and extreme clumsiness. Sure, Reed could knock practically anyone down a peg or two verbally when he got really angry, but if someone was coming after him with a knife or worse…well, he was pretty much screwed. Not to mention he would probably trip over anything in his path while trying to escape. So needless to say, Reed constantly prayed he would never get picked for the games, because not only would he most likely die, he would also end up bringing shame to his district and most definitely to his parents. He would be the most pathetic tribute District 1 ever had.

Reed did have his good points, however. He was pretty small and short for his age, meaning he was able to hide in smaller, cramped spaces than other kids, and his artistic ability was unmatched for his age group. In fact, he was considered even more talented in painting than most adults in the district. This meant that even though he might be clumsy and potentially loud while moving about, if he could stay perfectly still in one spot, having painted himself into the scenery, well, no one would ever notice he was there unless they accidentally bumped into him. More than once he had used this ability to his advantage at school – hiding in practically plain sight while trying to escape the other boys and girls his age who liked to bully him for all his faults. Reed was also pretty good when it came to singing and, since his teacher had pretty much given up on teaching him anything else after he had proven himself too dangerous with a bladed weapon, he had been taught how to mimic animal sounds, such as birds. He had thought it a pointless skill to learn, until his teacher explained how convenient it could be if the arena for the games was woods based and a passing tribute mistook his rustling nearby for a bird.

Of course, Reed was hoping none of these skills he would learn would have to be used at any point. If the odds were in _his_ favor then he would make it to his 19th birthday without having had to be in the games, which would mean he could finally help his mother out with her hairstyling career.

And maybe, just maybe, he would find a really nice guy then that he could become friends with until hopefully that friendship grew into something more. One could dream, right?

"Reeeeeeeeed! Stop being so lazy!" Reed's bed shook as suddenly someone plopped down at the bottom of it. "C'mon, Reed! You promised you'd do my hair for today."

It was Chiffon, Reed's best, and, well, only, friend. They had been best friends since they were both six, and, both being an only child, Chiffon had taken it upon herself to become like an older sister to Reed. And Reed had promised her he would do her black hair up in curls for the Reaping, so he may as well get up.

"Let me get ready first, okay?" He yawned, sitting up and stretching.

Chiffon cooed at the adorable, squeaky noise Reed had made while stretching. "You're too adorable. Okay, you get ready and I'll go downstairs to get the yummy nut bread my mom made for us."

"Ahh! Yay!" Reed couldn't wait to get ready so he could eat then. Chiffon's mother, Lisa, made the best breads and desserts ever.

It took more time than normal for Reed to get ready, but that was because it was Reaping Day and everyone wanted to look their best. It probably only mattered because the whole thing was televised for the Capitol and other districts, otherwise Reed was sure a lot of people would just go in their daily work clothes. His hair, a rather thick, mass of reddish-brown curls, was hardly capable of being tamed and for once Reed just didn't bother. What was the point? Most people thought he looked better without his curls gelled down anyway.

By the time he was finished getting ready, Chiffon was already back in his room, carefully eating some of the warm, fragrant nut bread. Reed managed to make it back over to her while only tripping once. As he sat down, being careful with his nice clothes as to not get them wrinkled, and started nibbling on some of the bread, he took in his best friend's dress. It was a pretty, pale pink color that went well with her skin tone. Once they were both finished eating, he set to work on her curls. By the time they were both finished with getting ready there was about an hour left before they needed to be in their district's main hall building. Reed's mother started a fuss as soon as she saw Reed's curls free of gel, but there was not enough time to fix things, something Reed was quite happy about.

As they all drew closer to the hall building, Chiffon grabbed Reed's hand and tugged him closer so she could talk to him quietly. "It'll be okay, Reed. We're both pretty safe, considering our names have each only been in six times. If we're really lucky someone will want to volunteer if our names are called anyway." That was true, it did happen pretty often considering a lot of the kids wanted to bring honor to their district here.

"The only problem with that theory," Reed whispered back, "is that most of the guys our age wouldn't mind seeing me get murdered out there. So if my name's called then I'm screwed. If your name's called you'll be safe."

Chiffon squeezed his hand, her eyes tearing up. "Don't talk like that, Reed! I'm sure someone would volunteer in your place! Let's just keep our fingers crossed that neither of us will be called, alright?"

They agreed upon that and made their way into the huge building. The main hall was so big it was easily capable of holding all of District 1's residents, though the windows were kept open because it tended to get quite hot once everyone was packed inside. Reed went through the line, wincing when he got his finger pricked at the sign in point. Afterward he finally found a spot near some other boys his age, trying really hard to ignore any teasing remarks he heard thrown his way. At one point he was able to catch a glimpse of Chiffon and returned her wave weakly.

The ceremony for Reaping Day was pretty boring, Reed thought so anyway. All he could think about was the impending drawing of names for their district's two tributes. What were the odds that his name would be drawn? It couldn't be that bad, considering how badly half the other kids were hoping to be picked, having put their own names in way more than need be, in Reed's opinion.

District 1's escort from the Capitol this year was a short, skinny, attractive fellow known as Mickey. He was actually quite charming and friendly, though of course he kept right to business as the Capitol had its cameras everywhere in the hall, filming the entire event for its residents who were probably waiting in anticipation at the very moment, wondering what kind of individuals were going to be tossed into their annual prime source of entertainment.

"Well, then, shall we find out which lucky two will have the opportunity this year to bring glory to District 1?" Mickey called out to the audience, grinning at the rather enthusiastic response he got from pretty much all of the older kids. Hearing the cheers made Reed feel sick to his stomach; he bet the Capitol escorts didn't this much enthusiasm in the other districts.

Mickey went over to the huge, round container holding the girls' names and reached in for a slip of paper. "Paisley Krendell!"

Reed let out a huge sigh of relief when Chiffon's name wasn't called. His best friend was safe. Paisley got up on stage and pretty much bowed for the entire population of District 1, telling Mickey she couldn't wait to come back home the victor. She was a pretty tall, muscular girl, known for having quite the temper. Reed did not fancy getting on her bad side.

Now it was time for him to wish for all the luck in the world to let him get by another Reaping Day, safe from the horrible Hunger Games. He was mentally keeping every finger crossed, along with his toes. As Mickey went over to pick a name from the boys' container, Reed found himself holding his breath…

"Reed Dawson!"

Reed blinked. It wasn't until his vision started going blurry that he realized he had yet to let go of the breath he had been holding. How could his name have been called? It just wasn't right. He wasn't cut out for this. In fact, he probably wouldn't even survive the first day.

Some of the guys around him actually laughed when they heard his name called. No one called out to volunteer in his place, no one bothered to say anything. They all knew he wouldn't survive. Reed was a weak, clumsy baby to them and of course how entertaining would it be to see him try and actually win?

In shock, Reed finally had to make his way up to the stage. He could only hope that he didn't trip along the way and make an even bigger fool of himself. After all, he was on screen now. Everyone was watching, waiting to see how he would respond, and the other districts' tributes would probably watch the footage from other districts later on. If they knew how clumsy he was from the get go…he was screwed. No matter how anyone looked at it, he was doomed to lose.

Unfortunately, as was Reed's luck, he safely made it to the steps of the stage, only to trip on the last one up. As he got up, extremely red faced and trying really hard not to hear the laughter, he was already kind of wishing he was dead.


	3. Chapter 2

Krasimir was doing everything he could to not make eye contact with his best friend. He could feel Andrei's gaze focused intently upon the back of his head and it was making him quite uncomfortable. It wasn't fair of him to do this to Andrei; Krasimir knew that, but this year was his last chance. He had already decided that if his name was not called this year then he would volunteer. His reasoning was not so much that he wanted to; but that he felt that he _had_ to. And in the end he would win, because that was the plan. That was the thought that had kept him going these past five years and now, at eighteen; Krasimir was certain that even though he hated violence with a passion, he was capable of doing whatever it took to win the Hunger Games.

District 11's escort from the Capitol this year was an older, stone-faced woman who was clearly doing a very poor job at trying to sound enthusiastic. Krasimir had listened to her introduce herself – Frieda wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he wondered what her name might be – but after that he had tuned her out. This was his seventh time going through the ceremony and he couldn't care less for it now than ever before.

He managed to tune back in just in time to hear Frieda calling the girl tribute's name. Wren Pinkley. Krasimir knew her from school. She was only fourteen; a tall, skinny girl who was almost as good at making friends as he, himself, was, but her tendency towards lying made her the sort of girl you wouldn't dare tell a secret to.

Now that Wren was on stage it was time for the boy tribute to be called. Krasimir was finally giving Frieda his full and undivided attention, his heart racing as he impatiently waited for the second name to be called.

"Krasimir Svetkova!"

He was fairly sure he heard Andrei's sharp intake of breath behind him, but he refused to turn around or even quickly glance at his best friend. Finally, after five years of waiting, he was getting his chance. Keeping his expression as neutral as possible, he made his way through the crowd to reach the stage. There was more murmuring than he had expected, and some kids, more of the younger ones, even reached out to gently touch him as he went by, quietly wishing him luck. This had been what he had been dreading. He definitely wasn't a stranger to most of District 1's population. Ever since he was young he had a habit of making friends easily, and tended to spend a lot of his time out amongst the people of his district. Practically everyone knew him in school, especially the younger kids; because he spoke to everyone he could and even helped tutor the younger kids. He was the older brother figure a lot of the little kids wished they had, and he loved them all. Leaving everyone now, like this, was more difficult than he had thought. It took all he had not to tear up as he finally made it onto the stage next to Frieda and Wren.

Wren looked absolutely terrified when she had to shake his hand. He wished he could tell her everything was going to be alright, but how could he promise such a thing when even he, himself, was slightly unsure of their futures now?

While they waited to leave on the train for the Capitol, Krasimir's parents came to visit him. His mother, Anna, had already been crying, obvious by her red rimmed eyes, and his father, Ivan, just looked solemn, never the best when it came to expressing himself with words.

"Krasimir, my baby!" Anna hugged him tightly, her head only barely reaching the height of his shoulders. Krasimir had rarely seen his mother cry and it was just as upsetting as having to listen to the goodbyes of his peers. He kissed the top of her head, sadly noting how gray her hair had gotten over the past couple of years, and quietly promised he would be safe and return home to her.

His father surprised him with a big hug. Krasimir couldn't remember the last time his father had hugged him. "You'll be okay, son. I've never known anyone as strong as you; you're practically fearless, and that will be a great advantage. Just…don't let your kindness cause you your life. I know you, Raz. You can hardly hurt a fly without apologizing to it. It's one of the things that makes you special, but your mother and me, heck, everyone here, wants to see you back home safe. I know it's harsh, but you have to do everything you can to survive."

"I know, dad." Krasimir replied, hugging his father tightly. "I…I'll do my best. I love you."

"I love you too." Ivan smiled sadly.

Too soon his parents had to leave. And then in came Andrei, practically knocking him down as he hugged him fiercely, a habit he'd had since childhood that Krasimir didn't really mind one bit. "Don't you dare die on me out there, Raz. You got that? You better live or I swear to god-"

"Drei, please…" Krasimir begged; his voice barely above a whisper as he buried his face in his best friend's shoulder, "I'll come back to you, I promise. I _have_ to. Just promise me that, no matter what happens out there, you'll visit Livisa every day and talk to her. You must, for me and for yourself."

"I promise, Raz." Andrei told him. "I'll make sure to tell her everything that's happening so she'll know you're safe. Just…" he pulled away just enough that he could look Krasimir directly in the eye, "I love you, Raz. It won't be the same here without you…"

Krasimir knew that and he knew things just would not be the same when he finally left District 1 and would no longer have Andrei to talk to every day, whether it was just for fun or because he needed help from the one person he trusted the most.

He was only able to give Andrei one last hug before they finally had to part ways. Now he was alone and as soon as he stepped on that train he knew things would change. He was going to have to finally think really hard about what sort of strategy he was going to use to win this thing, because, like he had promised, he was going to return home. And even though Andrei would be keeping Livisa updated every day to let her know he was safe, Krasimir knew she would already know, because her spirit would be with him every step of the way watching over him.


	4. Chapter 3

Their mentor, Garnet, barely seemed phased when Mickey sent her a rather flirtatious wink as he introduced himself. Garnet had won the Games two years ago. She was a tough, tanned girl who didn't take nonsense from anyone. Reed was actually quite terrified of her after having watched her victory kill. No one had to ask too many questions about her claim to fame after hearing the nickname she had earned after her victory – Bloodsucker. The memory of it still sent shivers down Reed's spine. No way was he willing to bite someone to death if that was what it took.

Garnet also had no problems with speaking her mind. Once they were on their small train to reach the Capitol, she took one look at Reed and snorted, letting him know he was screwed. Reed had lost pretty much any shred of confidence he had been trying to muster up to ask her for help, and instead spent the train ride listening to Paisley ask her questions.

Reed had seen the Capitol before, having actually gotten to travel there with his mother for her work. That didn't mean he had gotten to see all of it, but he had seen enough to know that it was a very…_flashy_ place, depending on the latest trends and fashions, of course. The Capitol's residents were practically mobbing the train station to see the tributes getting off their trains. Seeing the crowd of people waving outside, hearing them all shouting and talking, was making Reed rather nervous. Paisley seemed to be enjoying the attention, but Reed could barely muster up a weak wave, figuring he'd just be laughed at as the boy who tripped on the stairs during the Reaping ceremony.

It was with relief that Reed finally found himself in a big room with his new prep team. Once there it was just him and the three Capitol residents who were having quite a fun time trying to decide what to do with his curls. It was hard remembering who was who, but he was pretty sure it was Arches – a short fellow with neon pink hair – who suggested they just add some nice highlights to them and then let everything go natural. Reed could live with that. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to be able to do anything fancy with his hair after he had been in the arena for a day or so. May as well get used to always letting his curls go gel free; he felt lighter that way. The other two members of the team – Star and Timber, two rather giggly ladies that Reed was sure were twins – couldn't stop telling him how adorable he was as they readied him for his stylist. Reed wasn't too enthusiastic about their comments, because generally people didn't take him as seriously when all they saw was this 'adorable, baby-faced boy', but he was sure it wouldn't be good manners to ruin their fun. Plus, they were the ones in charge of making him at least look good, which had to come in handy somehow since everyone probably already figured him weak and clumsy for tripping up a stair. Once he was all cleaned up and ready, he found himself waiting in a small room off to the side. He wondered who his stylist was going to be. District 1 always did get really good ones.

Luckily he didn't have long to wait to find out. A short, bubbly, ginger haired lady came bouncing into his room in rather dangerous looking high heels, immediately nodding to herself at the sight of him. "Ooh, our prep team members were, like, major right! You are adorable! This will be great! And those curls! Ohmygod, I am going to have so much fun with you. I hope you aren't opposed to glitter? I mean, I was figuring Paisley's stylist, Faux, was going to just, like, stick with glitter for her, but you know…our tributes have to look like they're coming from the same district right? _So_, I was thinking, _sure_, glitter for you too, but we won't, like, overdo it as much." Reed was about to speak up, but the lady continued babbling away as she inspected him, having way too much fun teasing his curls.

"Paisley's wearing a totally _fabulous_ baby blue dress, covered in sparkly glitter of course. Her makeup's gonna be, like, pretty simple, but we have this new lotion stuff that's gonna make her absolutely sparkle on stage. And the blue's perfect for you too, like, in a suit of course, and it'll probably sparkle as well. Plus the lotion-" The lady finally paused to take a short, quick breath of air, "oh it's gonna be magnificent!"

Reed was pretty sure he was going to look like an absolute loser in the elaborate ensemble his stylist was describing. He still couldn't get a word in edgewise however, so he just kept his mouth shut.

Finally after a few more minutes of rambling, the lady finally paused and smacked herself square on the forehead. "Like, oh my god! I never introduced myself!" She laughed, shrugging. "Happens. I get so over excited about my job and I get carried away babbling like this. My name's Molly; pretty normal and boring, right?"

"I don't think so." Reed finally spoke up. "I mean, it's definitely easier to remember than half the other names around here, and it sticks out. I like it." He managed to give her a smile, but he was far from feeling happy.

Molly seemed to sense his underlying emotions, hopping up on the desk he was sitting on to sit next to him. "Look, I know you're probably, like, really nervous and…well, freaked out about now, but don't worry. We'll get you all dazzled up and you can enjoy tonight, and then, after that, we'll go from there, okay? Feel free to talk to me about whatever, because I know this can't be easy. And honestly, I, like, totally saw that fall of yours on the steps and I have done stuff like that _all_ the time. I think, right now anyway, a lot of people are just saying you're kind of adorable and that staircase incident must have been an accident or whatever. We'll just have to prove them that you're way more awesome than that, right?"

"Er…right." Reed replied weakly, knowing he wasn't really more awesome than that.

Later on, when it was time for the tributes to be presented to the Capitol's residents and its current president – President Ward – Reed most definitely was not feeling awesome. In fact, he was feeling downright nauseous. But even he had to admit that the outfits he and Paisley were wearing were dazzling. Perfect costumes to represent their district, and the lotion they were wearing that sparkled actually smelled pretty good, like some sort of flower Molly had said, but Reed couldn't remember what kind.

He and Paisley had to go out first, of course, and Reed hadn't much of a chance to see a lot of the other tributes. Those he had seen though definitely looked stronger than he did, or at least bigger and meaner. The girl from District 4 was practically glaring at all the other tributes. Reed decided it was just best if he didn't look about him and instead try to at least keep some sort of straight face on. Maybe he was still in shock from the Reaping ceremony, but he had yet to shed a tear about the entire thing. At some point this was all going to hit him and he was going to probably lose it, but for now he wasn't going to think about that. He had to keep a straight face on until he was alone, whenever that would be.

As he and Paisley started out amongst the crowd, Reed just silently prayed that he wouldn't fall out of the cart and make a fool of himself once more; though chances were that he was going to pass out before that happened.


	5. Chapter 4

"Did you look out the windows, Krasimir?"

Looking up at the sound of Wren's voice, Krasimir stood from the table they were all sitting at and went over to join her by the window. They had only been traveling for about an hour now in the fancy train that would be taking them to the Capitol. The view outside was somewhat stunning, fields and trees with the bright afternoon sun shining overhead. Just the thought of the fields had Krasimir feeling somewhat homesick. He shook his head, willing those thoughts to go away. If he was going to win then he had to stop thinking about all the things he was missing from home and instead focus on his goal.

He offered Wren a small smile as he made his way back over to the table where Frieda and their mentor sat. District 11's mentor was an older fellow known as Ray. He had won the Games about ten years ago and had since been mentoring all of 11's tributes. It wasn't too surprising, considering their district's tributes hardly won. No one had yet been a victor to take over Ray's spot. Krasimir bet the poor fellow was sick of the job. How much fun could you have instructing two people every year on how to survive, knowing they most likely weren't going to make it anyway?

Nonetheless, Ray was a really nice guy and Krasimir had liked him right away, especially when Wren broke down almost right after they left and Ray tried to comfort her. Ray had decided to wait to talk about the Games with them until Wren had calmed down; though Frieda had said she didn't care either way and left the dining cart. She had returned half an hour later to wait and now that things were settling down, Ray had figured it was best time to start talking.

"Alright you two, let's sit and talk, shall we?" Ray waited until Wren had joined them to continue. "I know the chances for us of winning are generally pretty slim, but, hey, you never know right? I'm sure you both will have skills hidden under your belt that'll surprise us-"

"Um," Wren huffed, "not really, unless you count gardening as a skill. I think we're pretty screwed."

Krasimir was starting to think Wren wasn't going to last pretty long in the Games at all, not with that attitude anyway. "Wren, you're not going to survive at all with that mindset. And actually," he turned to Ray, "I might not be super skilled with a bladed weapon or bow, but I'm good when it comes to survival skills. I'm a quick learner too, so I'll pick up some weapons during our training days and then we'll just see from there. I'm planning on coming home though, so sticking with a positive attitude is my best bet right now."

Ray looked slightly impressed. "Well, that's a change. Most of the tributes I've mentored don't believe they stand a chance, but I like your thinking. Alright, so we'll talk more about the training after we get through today, but until then…any questions?"

"Any idea what the arena's going to be like this year?" Krasimir asked, hoping it was forest related. Last year's Games had been beaches related – no surprise that a tribute from District 4 almost won. If only the girl hadn't broken her ankle.

"No clue." Ray shook his head. "They always keep it hushed up, you know. So we'll just have to try and prepare ourselves for anything."

The rest of their trip to the Capitol was pretty uneventful. Krasimir found it rather difficult to sleep, even though it was practically impossible to feel the train's movement, and in the morning he tiredly made his way to the dining cart for breakfast. Frieda and Ray were already up, but Wren was nowhere in sight.

Krasimir sat down just as Frieda was getting up to go find Wren. "Have you seen or heard anything about the other tributes yet?" He asked Ray.

"Only a tiny bit." Ray replied. "4's boy tribute this year is blind. He won't last the first day most likely. Other than that, well, I think the only tributes you'll have to worry about is the girl from 1, both from 2, and probably the girl from 4. Though the guy from 7 looks rather tough as well; you just never know."

"Hm…okay then." Krasimir was glad there were only about five tributes he really had to worry about. Of course things could change, because you never could know what everyone was capable of, but it was nice to have a head start. "What about the boy from 1?" From what he saw each year, it was always both tributes from 1 you had to worry about; not just one of them.

Ray laughed, shaking his head. "I'm not too worried about that one. I mean, he could be really strong with a blade for all we know, but the kid is kind of small and weak looking. Plus he tripped up the steps during their reaping. If he's clumsy like that all the time he doesn't stand a chance. Don't forget, one wrong move, one wrong step, in the arena could mean the difference between life and death."

By the time they finally reached the Capitol Krasimir was ready to get off the train. He hated being confined, one of the main reasons he enjoyed being outside so much. The station was packed with Capitol residents, all waving and shouting their welcomes to the tributes from District 11. Ray had already explained how getting sponsors worked and, luckily, neither Krasimir nor Wren were bad at making friends so they both decided it was in their best interest to wave back and be as friendly as possible. Krasimir, although quite modest half the time, knew he wasn't exactly bad looking either, so he decided to use his looks to his advantage and even winked at some of the ladies as they went by. It certainly caused a stir. Hopefully they would remember him, especially later once he was in the Games and might need help at some point.

Now that they had arrived it was time to meet their stylists, but first they got to go through their prep teams. Krasimir had to admit, his team members were odd. The short one with dark blue hair was Fate, the bubbly, pink haired one was Precious, and the silent, tan haired one was Zipper. They set to work quickly, making sure he would look perfect for his stylist. He wasn't a huge fan of all this prep nonsense, and, in fact, wasn't a huge fan of the Capitol either in general. All he cared about and was focused on was winning, but to do that he had to play his part beforehand. Even if that meant enduring Precious giggling as she poked his abs.

Meeting his stylist was even less fun. Teddy wasn't exactly stealthy about letting his eyes roam once he was in the room with him. Krasimir felt quite uncomfortable under his stylist's gaze, but he knew he had to suffer through it.

Both Teddy and Wren's stylist, Clover, had them in matching costumes for the opening ceremony that was sort of a suited take on their general work wear from District 11. It was definitely better looking that Krasimir had figured it might be.

Wren nerves were plainly visible across her face before the opening ceremony started. Krasimir gave her hand a comforting squeeze once before he let go to hold onto the cart they were standing in. He wasn't afraid of falling out, or afraid of the impending crowd, but he was starting to feel slightly nervous about the fact that this ceremony was being televised for not just the Capitol but for all the districts as well. His friends and family back home would be watching this. What would they be thinking? What would Andrei be thinking?

The thoughts of home had his heart hurting and he immediately turned his mind elsewhere. From where they were it was difficult to catch glimpses of all the other tributes, but he could see some of them at least. The boy from 7 definitely looked strong and dangerous. The two from 9 and 10 didn't look all that threatening.

He couldn't see any of the kids up front, but soon it didn't matter anyway because they were all moving and now he had to be friendly again, waving to the crowd and whispering reassuring comments to Wren to keep her from freaking out.


	6. Chapter 5

Reed was so glad the opening ceremony was over and that he had managed to survive without too much incident. Sure he had stumbled off of the cart when they were getting out, but what did it matter then? It wasn't in front of the crowd. And most of the other tributes were all too busy getting out of their own carts to have noticed, hopefully.

President Warden's speech hadn't really instilled much confidence in Reed. Honestly he could hardly remember half of it, and he had been so nervous that he hadn't taken the time to look about at the other tributes. Their first day of training was tomorrow though, so he supposed he would get to see them then anyway.

Now they were on their floor of the tower which housed all the tributes until the Games started. Paisley was chatting away quite animatedly with Garnet and Mickey while they all ate, but Reed didn't feel like he had much to say. He wished Molly was around now. She was super nice and comforting, but he had only gotten to really see her again for a little bit after the ceremony.

After their dinner, Reed was unable to sleep so he took the chance to watch some of the footage of reapings from the other districts. His heart about dropped when he realized the boy from 4 was blind, having watched him get led up on stage by one of the Peacekeepers. The odds of that boy winning were so against him that Reed hardly thought it was fair.

As he continued to watch the footage he was somewhat able to pick out which tributes looked more threatening than others. The boy from 7 looked deadly, but most of that was because of his expression. The girl from 11 looked terrified, but it was the boy from 11 that Reed wasn't entirely sure about. When he was called it was almost as if he looked _glad_ for a second, but then his expression just seemed oddly neutral the entire time he was walking up and on the stage. The residents of District 11 were a bit more obvious about their responses however. Some of the kids in the crowd were even touching him as he walked by. The boy was really tall, and definitely not bad looking; he had a sort of friendly appearance about him, but he was obviously doing his very best to not let whatever he was feeling be visible to those watching.

Someone who was capable of hiding their feelings and emotions? Reed may not be the best fighter out there, but that didn't mean he was stupid. Someone like that could deceive you quicker than you could blink.

Sleep hardly came for Reed that night, though he tried knowing he needed to rest for training the next day. When he went in for breakfast the next day he was happy to see Molly there, eating breakfast with the rest of their crew. Mickey said morning to him as well, but it was quickly becoming pretty clear that neither Paisley nor Garnet wanted much to do with him. Reed didn't think this bode well for him in the near future.

Despite his misgivings, day one of training actually went fairly well. When he and Paisley arrived they were amongst the first of the tributes to do so. They both stood still as they got their district's number pinned to their backs. The training center was huge and there were tons of different stations, some for weapons, some for traps and other useful survival skills, and some for even combat training. They all had to wait until all twenty four tributes had arrived, and Reed took the chance to get a closer look at them all now that it was in person. It became obvious fairly quickly that Reed was probably one of the smallest of the tributes. He wasn't the youngest however. That spot was held by the boy tribute from 12 who was only thirteen, but even he was better off than Ridge, the blind boy from 4 who looked really uncomfortable and lost. Reed's heart went out to Ridge, but he knew in the end there was nothing anyone could do about the situation.

He spotted the girl and boy from 11 coming in together, seemingly lost in some sort of quiet conversation. Up close the boy was even more attractive, but Reed immediately scolded himself for thinking such a thing. What good was it to think like that about someone who, in a few days, would be trying to kill you?

Once they were allowed to start moving about the training stations, Reed was unsure what to do. In the end he decided to go over to the camouflage station because that was something he knew he was good at. The trainer there was quite impressed with his ability to paint so well and his compliments managed to help Reed gain some of the much needed confidence he had lost over the past few days. He was just about to work up the courage to move on to a different station when he heard a voice speak up from behind him.

"That's quite impressive. Can you show me how to do that?"

Reed looked back to see it was the boy from 11. Unbidden, his face seemed to heat up almost instantly and he knew it had to look ridiculously red. The taller boy was watching him with a somewhat friendly expression, but Reed had decided to be wary after watching the footage of the reapings last night. "I guess so…I'm not good at explaining this sort of thing though so it'd probably be better to ask the trainer at some point."

"Eh, he's busy with that girl from 3." The boy shrugged, moving over to inspect the rocky pattern Reed had managed to paint onto his arms. "And judging by these I'd say you're a lot better than him. You're from District 1 so I'm going to assume you've been doing this sort of thing for a while now, right?"

"Uh, yeah…" Reed replied, unable to make eye contact with the taller boy, "Art is sort of my thing, I guess." His face felt like it was going to melt off in the very near future.

"Oh my god, Krasimir!" The girl from 11 had joined them, shooting the taller boy a disapproving look. "I know you want to win, but you're not going to if you do your usual 'trying to make friends with everyone you meet' approach."

It might have been Reed's imagination, but he was pretty sure Krasimir looked quite annoyed for a second before masking it with a smile. "Oh you know I can't help myself, Wren. Besides, I was just admiring his artwork here. Maybe you should learn something like that; it's not like you can do much of anything else."

Wren glared at him and huffed, storming off to visit a different station. Krasimir immediately looked rather guilty. "She's starting to bring out the worst in me." He muttered before quickly glancing over at Reed. "Sorry. I'm going to go apologize. Good luck with your training."

Reed watched him go, feeling even more confused now by Krasimir. What was this guy's strategy? He was apparently quite friendly, that was for sure, but Wren was right. Friendliness wasn't going to get him far in the arena, nor was looks. Krasimir better have something else up his sleeve, because otherwise he wouldn't survive long.


	7. Chapter 6

He hadn't been able to help himself. The boy tribute from 1 was interesting to him. After the opening ceremonies and dinner, he had watched the footage of the reapings from the other districts; mainly just to check out those Ray had said might be the most dangerous. The girl from 1, Paisley, definitely had the cocky, confident attitude generally seen in District 1's tributes. The boy however, Reed, was clearly the opposite, and unfortunately apparently clumsy given his trip up the steps to the stage. Krasimir found the boy's adorableness and possible clumsy tendencies to be endearing however, though he knew none of it would help the poor boy much once in the arena.

For Ridge, the blind boy from 4, having been reaped for the Games was obviously a death sentence. He pretty much needed help being led everywhere, and no one was going to help him once the Games started. The obvious unfairness and cruelty of it made Krasimir angry, giving him one more reason to hate the Hunger Games and reinforce his desire to win.

By no means was Krasimir unprepared to survive, but there was one major issue he had that was going to really get in the way of his hopeful win: his resistance to violence. Just the thought of having to kill someone, or even just harm someone in general, was enough to make Krasimir feel ill. Every fiber of his being rebelled against the idea, yet he knew that at some point in the Games he was going to have to do so, whether it be to defend himself or to just kill in general to secure his victory. He had made a promise to himself that he would not kill anyone until the very end, if possible, because then he would have no choice. When it came down to either him or the other last boy, or girl, dying it was not going to be him. If he had to potentially harm someone to escape an attack, however, well, he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

Once in the training room for their first day, Krasimir was unsure what to start with so he ended up at the stations involving plant identifying and such. That was something he was good at. He was finishing up when he noticed the boy from District 1 over at the camouflage station. He had seen him earlier, when he and Wren had first arrived at the Center. Up close Reed was even more adorable and Krasimir could hardly resist watching him, especially with those curls. The boy had looked rather uncomfortable earlier, but now, at the camouflage station, he looked perfectly at home. The station had to be something he was quite familiar and comfortable with, though Krasimir wasn't too surprised. He knew District 1 trained its kids from an early age for the Games. It was technically against the rules, but no one ever stopped it from happening.

Krasimir ventured over to the station and was quickly impressed with the painted design Reed had going on both his arms. If he had laid them down on the rocky bed of a river no one would be able to tell the difference. Someone would probably step on them without even realizing they were walking on arms.

Striking up a conversation with Reed was easy; Krasimir was in his element there. The younger boy seemed either quite embarrassed or nervous to talk to him, Krasimir wasn't sure. The way Reed's face went red had Krasimir's heart jumping in his chest. He was being ridiculous though. As much as it was against his nature to do so, Krasimir knew he shouldn't go making friends with the other tributes. In a few days they would all be stuck in the arena, each desperately trying to survive against the others, friendship would not matter there.

It was probably a good thing that Wren came over so quickly and told him off, otherwise Krasimir was sure he would have continued talking to Reed. However his annoyed response to her scolding had him feeling quite guilty. For a while now her self-defeating remarks had been starting to annoy him and he found it was getting harder and harder to not lose himself and restrain from snapping at her.

He quickly went over to apologize and suggested they may as well try to learn some of the weapons that were about, since honestly neither of them were too good with those. The short blades were somewhat difficult for him to handle, especially considering his reluctance to even wield them in the first place, but he was able to do a somewhat decent job at defending himself thanks to his strength which allowed him to shove the assisting trainer off of him or even knock him down, gaining him the upper hand. Wren was not too bad with a spear, but she really managed to surprise Krasimir when she was handed a bow. Most of the time she was able to get an accurate hit on her target; she wasn't perfect, but she was good enough it might make a slight difference when her life was on the line.

After the first day of training they were both a little sore, Wren especially since she was unused to heavy physical activity besides that of gardening. Krasimir felt pretty well about how the day had went, but he knew he still needed to practice more if he wanted to do well enough in the Games to win.

That night Wren told him she had noticed during lunch that some of the other tributes had already seemed to have formed an alliance. This didn't surprise Krasimir much. It happened every year, especially amongst the first couple of districts. Apparently the girl from 1, Paisley, had joined up with both tributes from 2, the girl from 4, and the boy from 7 – most of the strongest looking tributes. Wren was sure the only reason Krasimir hadn't been approached by them was because he had been with her almost the entire time. He didn't really want to think that, but either way he knew he wasn't joining up with any of the other tributes. In fact, he would probably avoid Wren even once the Games started. What good was it to form a group when, once everyone else was dead, you knew everyone in the group would turn on one another? You wouldn't be able to really trust them.

The second day of training went just as well. Krasimir was able to learn some more fighting skills, though it was soon becoming quite obvious that he was better at hand to hand combat than with an actual weapon. He spent most of the day practicing fighting techniques with Wren, avoiding a lot of the other tributes including Reed. Wren had made it pretty obvious over dinner the night before that he was practically incapable of _not_ being friends with everyone, so Ray had pressed the importance upon him to just pretty much avoid the other tributes as much as possible. That didn't stop him from watching the others however, and he constantly found his gaze drifting over to the curly haired boy from District 1.


	8. Chapter 7

Reed was getting frustrated. It was day three, their last and final day of training. So far the only thing besides camouflaging he had gotten any good at was making traps; which only went well as long as he didn't accidentally get his finger caught in a knot. It didn't help that some of the other tributes would find it amusing half the time he knocked stuff over or tripped on things. It was like they were constantly waiting for him to mess up, hoping for some other reason to laugh at him. And ever since day one, after Wren had told him off, Krasimir had been avoiding him, not even meeting his gaze; although Reed was pretty sure he almost caught him glancing over a lot. He couldn't understand why this annoyed him so greatly. It wasn't like they were friends or allies. In fact, he was kind of surprised Paisley hadn't gone over to talk to Krasimir yet. After all, it hadn't taken her long to form a small alliance with the boy and girl from District 2, the girl from 4, and the boy from 7.

He quickly glanced over at the hand to hand combat station where Krasimir was currently in the process of pinning down one of the trainers. Watching the older boy always made Reed's face go red. It wasn't fair. Why did he have to be thinking like this over someone who would be trying to kill him in only a few days?

"Hey…can you help me out with this?"

A small voice interrupted his thoughts. Reed looked next to him and realized it was Ridge. Up close he could see the boy's eyes held slightly foggy shading over an otherwise clear green color. The blind boy was trying to learn one of the more difficult knots, feeling his way through it but having very little success.

"Here," Reed reached over, carefully pulling the rope from Ridge's hands as to not startle him, "let me undo it so we can start at the beginning. I'm Reed, by the way."

"Thanks. I'm Ridge, but you probably already know that." The boy from 4 replied quietly. "You're the boy from 1 who tripped, aren't you?"

Reed's face went red at the memory, and he nodded in response before mentally smacking himself at the fact that Ridge couldn't see him do so. "Yeah, sadly that's me."

Ridge smiled, shrugging, his gaze focused slightly to the right of Reed's head. "It's alright. Even clumsy you're still better off than me. We just can't let our shortcomings get us down though, right?" Despite his words, his voice held little confidence.

"I guess you're right." Reed replied. "After all, you never know what's going to happen out there."

He spent the rest of day three with Ridge, helping him learn more of the knots and some of the other survival skills he could feel his way through. It made Reed feel a bit better, knowing he was being of some help to someone else.

Day three was the day they showed their skills to the game makers. Reed had no clue what skills he really had that were worth presenting. His skills with weapons were pretty pathetic, and he was sure none of the people wanted to sit around watching him camouflage himself for an hour. In the end he went with spears, because that was the weapon he sucked the least at. He just had to manage not to hurt himself or anyone else with it.

And luck seemed to be with him that day, because even though he may not have hit all the marks perfectly, he did manage to not hurt himself in the process. The game makers didn't look completely impressed, but at least they didn't look completely bored either. It had to be a good sign, right?

Afterward Reed managed to relax somewhat until dinner. He knew their scores would be shared that night and he wasn't expecting to get anything high. Paisley, on the other hand, was quite confident her score would be amazing.

And it was. She managed to get a 10, which garnered the approval from Mickey, Garnet, and their stylists. When it was Reed's turn he kept his fingers crossed for at least a five, but was surprised when he actually got by with a seven. It was more than he had hoped for and even Garnet was surprised.

Most of the other tributes managed to score in the 8-11 range, though, to no one's surprise, Ridge got a four. The tributes from 9 didn't do so well either. Wren got a 9, but Krasimir managed to get an 11. Reed was definitely not comforted by that fact.

The next day they had to prepare for their interviews. This was something Reed had really been dreading. They would have to get up in front of the entire Capitol to speak. Reed was not looking forward to it at all. Garnet did nothing to help his confidence when she told him he better make a good appearance, because it would probably be one of the only things helping him get sponsors once he was in the arena.

The only good thing was that he would get to have some time with Molly once more beforehand. She would be helping him with his suit he would be wearing, which supported much of the same glittery decoration as before for the opening ceremonies yet this time it was a whitish color instead of blue. Molly's non-stop babbling and reassurances comforted Reed, giving him the confidence he needed to get out on the stage with the rest of the tributes. The crowd of Capitol residents was deafening, and the bright stage lights had Reed feeling like he was going to melt.

The host, Caesar, was still quite new, this being his tenth year of doing so, but he held great enthusiasm and was able to keep things rolling while holding the audience's attention. His suit was a shining, deep blue, but his hair and makeup was a rather dark, forest green color. It was weird, but not as odd as some of the Capitol residents' getups.

Being from District 1 meant that Reed and Paisley were slated to go first, but at least that meant they wouldn't have to sit and wait for their turns. Paisley immediately won over the audience with her charm and fierce confidence. This was a show and she was promising them a winner.

All too soon it was Reed's turn and he prayed to all that was holy he would not trip while making his way to center stage. The lights almost blinded him, but he managed a smile as he shook Caesar's hand and meekly waved to the audience.

"Now you are just plain adorable, Reed Dawson." Caesar grinned. "I can only assume you're trying to fake us all out here thanks to that 7 you earned. Are you feeling nervous?"

Reed was pretty sure he hadn't been trying to fake anyone out, but, hey, if that's what everyone wanted to believe than it was better than thinking him weak. He figured he may as well be honest while answering the questions, as long as he could get the audience to like him at the same time. "Oh, most definitely." He smiled weakly. "I think almost all the other tributes are about a foot taller than me. It's intimidating."

Caesar laughed, along with the audience. Reed was pretty sure he heard some 'aww's out in the crowd and could only hope those were 'aw, he's so cute and tiny' aww's. "That's true; most of them definitely have a height advantage upon you. I think District 11's boy tribute is 6'2'', but that's okay. While they'll have to duck under things you can just slip on by. And I'm sure you'll have no trouble hiding in small spaces."

"Now I know how embarrassing your little trip up the stairs must have been during the reaping." Caesar noted with a small smile. "Naturally clumsy? Or were you just nervous to stand up there on stage next to such a pretty girl as Paisley?"

Apparently the audience found that amusing too, but Reed didn't. His face had gone pink again, but he tried to be a good sport about it. "Might have been both…"

"Well, we'll just have to hope you don't take a fall during the Games." Caesar laughed.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," Reed smiled, "just as long as the game makers don't put any staircases in the arena." He was relieved the audience found him amusing, and, for once, was kind of glad for his adorableness factor.

Thankfully his time was soon up and he got to return to his seat with the other tributes, allowing himself to breathe easier now that he was no longer in the spotlight.

Almost all the other tributes managed to handle Caesar's questions and the crowd pretty well. Ridge almost went the wrong way and walked off the stage until Caesar helped him out. Other than that there were hardly any incidents. When it was finally Krasimir's turn, Reed found himself suddenly paying a bit more attention and immediately felt silly. Why was he getting so hung up on the older tribute?

"Krasimir!" Caesar grinned, shaking the boy's hand like they were old friends. "What a name. Do your friends call you that back home or do you have a nickname?"

Krasimir laughed, nodding in response to the question. "Oh yes. They call me Raz most of the time; although my parents usually call me by my full name when I'm in trouble, which only happens on occasion, you know." He winked at the audience, causing them to laugh.

"Ah, do we have ourselves a trouble maker?" Caesar laughed. "So, Raz- can I call you Raz?" Krasimir nodded in response. "Lovely! So, we've been wondering, you seem like such a friendly fellow. How well do you feel prepared for the Games?"

"I'm feeling pretty confident, which is good since I want to win, though apparently my talent at making friends isn't going to come in handy here is it?"

"No, I don't think so." Caesar shook his head. "I must say, you've caused quite a stir with the Capitol's ladies. Is there a special girl in your life back home that might get a little jealous?"

Krasimir shook his head, laughing. To Reed it almost seemed like Krasimir was laughing at a joke that only he, himself, understood. "Oh, no. There's no girl back home."

"Ooh," Caesar turned his face towards the audience, "did you hear that ladies? He's still available." He winked, laughing when there was quite a response from the female part of the audience which caused Krasimir's face to go quite red.

"So, we have time for one last question. You're eighteen, were you surprised, maybe even shocked, your name got called your last year able to participate in the Games?"

"No." Krasimir responded, maybe a bit too quickly. "I wanted my name to be called."

That surprised Reed. It wasn't exactly normal for the tributes from the further districts to _want _their names called during a reaping. Apparently Reed wasn't the only one surprised or confused. Caesar even sounded confused as he spoke once more. "And why is that?"

Krasimir was silent for a moment before finally responding in a voice that was quieter than before. "For my cousin: Livisa. I'm going to win for her." The friendly look in his eyes was gone, replaced with strong, deadly confidence that Reed found terrifying.

Caesar looked touched by Krasimir's response. "And I'm sure if you win she'll be quite proud of you. She'll be able to tell everyone back home that her cousin is one tough, brave fellow."

"She won't." Krasimir shook his head. "She died, five years ago during the Games. And that's why I have to win."

There was more 'aww'ing from the audience as Caesar gave him a sad smile. "Then you'll have a guardian angel watching over you the entire way. Won't he, audience?" The audience quite loudly agreed.

Once Krasimir's interview was over the last two interviews went by fairly quickly and then they were finally able to get off the stage. Reed was tired. He just wanted to sleep, knowing that the next day was the day they were finally going into the arena. It was a scary thought. Who knew how much time he had left to live?

Before he went to sleep though he asked Garnet if she remembered Krasimir's cousin, Livisa. Five years ago had been quite some time and Reed could hardly remember that year's tributes. Garnet nodded in response, though all she really remembered was that the girl had been only twelve during the Games and had only lasted about four days.

The thought made Reed sad, and kind of glad he was an only child who didn't have many friends. He couldn't imagine what it must feel like to watch someone you love fight to survive, especially at such a young age.


	9. Chapter 8

Krasimir had been six when he first was brave enough to sneak over to the group of trees at the end of the fields. He had gone straight through the clearing to explore further when he found the ground caving away, dropping him down into a deep, dark hollowed pit. Luckily he had managed to survive the fall without any major injuries, just a few scrapes and small cuts, but it was the thought that no one knew he was out there that had scared him the most. The pit had been deep, but not very wide. It hadn't taken long for him to start feeling claustrophobic. An hour had passed before the sky started finally getting dark, causing the already dim light of the pit to darken completely, having left him incapable of even seeing his hand when it was right in front of his face.

He had never been scared of anything before in his life, except for maybe the thought of something bad happening to his younger cousin, but at that moment he was really starting to feel afraid for himself. Someone had to find him eventually, he had thought. It had been too long; people would start looking, but who would think to check in that area?

The night sounds that had once seemed harmless then terrified him and he had found himself paralyzed, unable to try any means of escape. What good would it have done anyway? Even if he had managed to get out of the pit he would still have been unable to see his way back to the village. He had to wait until morning.

Somehow he had fallen asleep, but it had been an uneasy, restless slumber that he woke from with a start when he heard some loud bird crying out in the early morning light. Shivering in the chilly morning air, he had tried clawing at the dirt walls of the pit, hoping to catch any sort of hold possible to climb his way out. It had felt like hours later when he finally managed to get out, collapsing on the ground in exhaustion, breathing heavily.

There wasn't much Krasimir was afraid of even now, but if there was one thing he knew for sure it was that he never wanted to be in such confined, dark spaces ever again.

The tributes were all getting into the helicopter which would take them to where they would be getting into the arena, and Krasimir was not thrilled. He was not a fan of heights. It didn't please him much either that they had to get trackers in their arms. He knew it was so the game makers could track the tributes for the games, and keep track of who was alive and who was not, but it still felt like some sort of violation of privacy. Complaining wouldn't do any good so he kept his mouth shut.

When Krasimir arrived in his waiting room he found Teddy there waiting for him. His stylist wished him good luck and made sure he was all ready to go. Of course the fact that Krasimir was about to go out to participate in a fight to the death didn't stop Teddy from making the small comment that, if Krasimir did win, he would like to personally take him out to dinner. Krasimir wasn't going to be rude and downright say he had little to no interest in doing anything with Teddy, so he just managed a weak smile and focused his gaze on the glass tube in the corner of the room that would take him to the arena.

A voice soon filled the room, informing them he had ten minutes. Now Krasimir was starting to feel a little bit panicky. He knew he was capable of surviving; he _knew_ he wasn't going down without a fight, but…he wasn't cut out for this. When it came right down to it, he was no fighter. He had gotten himself in way over his head. There was no turning back though; he had to go. At five minutes he finally stepped into the glass tube, giving Teddy a small wave in farewell as the door shut. Immediately he felt trapped, claustrophobic, and he hoped it would start to move soon so he could be free of its confinement. He was just starting to wonder whether the floor of the tube would go upwards or down, when it started to move. He found himself slowly sinking downwards, the room holding Teddy gradually disappearing from view above him. Whether that was a good sign or not, Krasimir did not know.

In sudden panic Krasimir realized it was getting darker. The further he went down the darker it became. His heart was racing and he had to remind himself to breathe so he didn't pass out before he even reached the bottom. His head was pounding heavily and it wasn't until he felt a soft breeze of air that he opened his eyes and realized the door of the tube had opened. The other tributes were entirely invisible in the complete darkness of the room. What sort of arena was this?

Without warning a huge ball of flame burst into life in the center of the room. Most of the tributes, including Krasimir, shielded their faces from the onslaught of sudden light. Once his eyes were able to adjust, Krasimir quickly looked around. His heart sunk. They were in some sort of huge circular cavern. Well, huge was an understatement. Behind each one of the tributes there was a tall, narrow gaping black hole in the cavern wall – a tunnel – and it did not look like there was light coming from any of them. Two of Krasimir's worst fears in one arena; he felt his confidence sinking lower than the floor they were on.

In the center of the room was what everyone called the Cornucopia. It held tons of survival gear and weapons, but, for the most part, every year it was where most of the tributes died in the first ten minutes, all fighting to get something of use before running off. There was a huge iron chandelier hanging from the cavern's ceiling, directly above the center of the room, holding the ball of flame that threw eerie shadows over the metallic walls of the Cornucopia. Surprisingly they could not feel any heat radiating from the fire. Krasimir suspected it was some sort of gimmick of the game makers, created to only cast light and nothing else.

With the cavern now somewhat filled with light, Krasimir was finally able to see the other tributes. He quickly spotted Wren, not too surprised to see her looking quite terrified. He bet his own fear was evident upon his face and he just bet that back at home Andrei, who was the only who knew his worst fears, was fearing for him all the more now.

_Livvy, protect me, please._ Krasimir silently prayed.

An electronic voice filled the air, counting down from ten, and Krasimir realized how not ready he felt. One last look around the room caused him to make eye contact with Reed. The younger boy looked like how Krasimir felt, and he found himself hoping for Reed's safety.

At the end of the countdown everyone moved at once. Krasimir was not planning on getting himself killed within the first few minutes. He spotted some of the tributes disappearing down tunnels, but most of them were fighting in the center and it was not a pretty sight. The screams and shouting were a lot worse in person than when you were just watching it on a screen.

He was about to run off when he saw the guy from 7 – Rocky – bearing down on Reed. It didn't occur to Krasimir that Rocky just so happened to be a lot stronger than he was, or that with Reed gone it just meant one less person he had to worry about, no, in that split second the only thing Krasimir thought was that someone was trying to kill Reed and he wasn't about to let it happen.

He barreled into Rocky, throwing him to the ground just in time. There was only a second for him to yell at Reed to run before he found himself being rolled over and pinned down. No way in hell was he going to die here. His hands were useless, pinned as they were, so he thrust his head forward, managing to crash his forehead against the bigger guy's nose. There was a loud crack and Rocky howled in pain, releasing his grip upon Krasimir just enough that he could gain the upper hand. He shoved Rocky off, knocking the short blade out of the guy's hand and getting to his feet. He couldn't see Reed anywhere and there was hardly anyone else left in the cavern. Most of the bodies he could see were dead, lying on the ground to never move again. It was a horrifying sight that made his stomach turn.

His back ached from having been pinned to the dirty, uneven ground, and he was sure he held a few more bruises, but at the moment it didn't matter. He had survived his first fight and it instilled some more confidence in him that he could win. Now that he didn't have to fight others for supplies he managed to grab some useful things, only taking a small bladed weapon since he wasn't the best with most of the others. Unfortunately he was unable to find something that would help give him light, so he had to hope one of the tunnels would lead out into somewhere open.

It took him quite a while to work up the courage and finally move out of the cavern and into one of the tunnels. The sound of someone stumbling through the darkness in one of the further tunnels, seemingly returning to see if there was anything good left to find, caused Krasimir to run off.

Darkness engulfed him instantly and he had to fight the urge to cry out. It wasn't fair. Out of the all the arenas he could have been tossed into, why had it been dark caves and tunnels? About ten minutes in down his current tunnel, feeling the closed in walls as he went, he felt a gape in the wall to the right. Now he reached a new problem. Should he continue going straight or should he try this new path? What if it was all just some sort of maze? Could he get lost, wandering for hours in the darkness to never meet another tribute? No, it couldn't be that difficult. Otherwise how would the Capitol enjoy its game?

Krasimir decided to test his luck and go right. He continued to keep his hands on the walls, feeling blinder than a bat. If Ridge had survived the brutal fight at the Cornucopia and escaped down the tunnels he probably couldn't even tell the difference. He was probably better off than the other tributes now, having years to perfect the usage of his other senses due to his lack of sight.

Twenty minutes in he paused to take a rest when something weird happened. On the wall of the tunnel beside him a small circle of blue light appeared. Inside the circle of light was the symbol of the Capitol. This was followed immediately by a voice informing them of the tributes that had already fallen: both from 5, Ridge, the boy from 12, both from 8 and 9, the girl from 3, and Wren. Only 14 tributes remained.

Krasimir covered his face with his hands, sinking to the dirt floor of the tunnel, trying to steady himself with some deep breaths. Ridge hadn't survived. _Wren_ hadn't survived. This hit him harder than he had thought it would.

Suddenly the noise of someone's footsteps hitting the rocky, dirt floor of the tunnel reached his ears. Krasimir scrambled up, wondering which way he should run. A new, terrible thought occurred to him: most of his survival skills would do him no good here in caves and tunnels that didn't exactly hold much plant life or wood. The only comforting thought was that there had to be some sort of underwater creek or something in here somewhere, because there was no way the game makers were going to let them all die from dehydration.

He was about to run off when a voice stopped him. There was a sudden thump, as if someone had fallen, and a small voice cut through the darkness, cursing quietly.

"Reed?"

The person was quiet, not responding until… "Krasimir? Where are you?"

Krasimir breathed a huge sigh of relief. Not only was Reed still alive he had now somehow managed to run into him again. It was better to have run into Reed than anyone else anyway. At least with Reed he was pretty sure his life wasn't in danger, not after having saved Reed's back in the cavern anyway. And even better yet, he wasn't _alone_ anymore. The darkness wasn't nearly half as bad if he was at least with someone else.

"Just a short ways up ahead of you, are you alright?" He held still, waiting for Reed to reach him.

"I'm fine…just can't see a thing- oh!" Reed's hands brushed his arm and he smiled in the darkness, "found you!"

"Good." Krasimir laughed, reaching over to take hold of Reed's hand. He liked the feeling of the other boy's smaller hand in his own. "I'll be honest with you, darkness and confined spaces are my worst fears so I am not enjoying myself right now." Not that anyone probably was, considering the current predicament.

"You shouldn't have told me that." Reed giggled, the sound absolutely melting Krasimir's heart. "Now I know your weakness."

Krasimir laughed. "Yeah, but you wouldn't kill me now, would you?"

If only he could see Reed's face, but the impenetrable darkness did not allow it. "No," a quiet, seemingly shy reply, "I wouldn't. You saved my life back there. Thank you."

"Don't worry about it." Krasimir grinned, squeezing Reed's hand.

"Did you get hurt? I managed to grab some stuff before I ran, but I was so worried about you and wanted to head back. I got lost pretty quickly in the dark and then couldn't find my way back." Reed's voice was shaky. "And then that game makers' announcement showed up on the wall and I was sure I'd hear your name spoken-"

"Hey," Krasimir interrupted, "I'm fine. Don't worry, okay? I'll probably have some bruises for a bit, but other than that I'm good. My forehead left Rocky with a broken nose though, I think."

"Must have a hard head then." Reed managed a weak laugh.

"Oh, I've been known to be pretty stubborn." Krasimir laughed, knowing that wasn't what Reed had meant. "About this darkness though, and the cave, I mean, how are they working this all out? It must be impossible for the cameras to see in the darkness, and…how are the tributes supposed to find and kill each other if they're all too busy getting lost wandering about the tunnels?"

"Well, I think the cameras might be using night vision technology or something." Reed replied. "I've heard about stuff like that which enables things like cameras to see in the dark, other than that…the tunnels, I'm not sure. It can't be too difficult to figure out, since it'd be boring to just watch us wandering about the entire time. There has to be some pattern or something to it all."

"It just…sucks, you know?" He sighed. "None of the training stations really prepared us for surviving this sort of environment."

"I know what you mean." Krasimir agreed.

They had been at the same spot in the tunnel for quite some time before they figured it was time to move on. The question then was: did they move on together or did they separate? Clearly neither wanted the other dead, so that option wasn't even brought up. Finally it was Reed's declaration of wanting to stick together for at least a little bit that they settled on, and Krasimir was perfectly fine with it. He felt safer having someone else around and, to be honest, it made him feel a lot better knowing Reed was safe.


	10. Chapter 9

Despite some obvious problems, such as lack of light and inability to tell time while wandering, Reed had to admit he was somewhat impressed with this year's arena. He could tell that Krasimir, however, was not, on any level.

They had been wandering about in the dark for over at least an hour now if not longer. It was easy to lose track of time down in the tunnels. Krasimir hadn't said much at first, his grip upon Reed's hand growing increasingly tighter and tighter as they went.

Finally, in some effort to save his hand from being crushed, Reed decided maybe it'd be helpful to the older boy if they talked about something. "Hey, Krasimir?" There wasn't much of a response, but he felt Krasimir's grip loosen for a quick second so he had to be paying attention. "I was just…wondering, you don't have to tell me or anything, but during your interview you mentioned your cousin? I was eleven and honestly I don't remember much of that year's Games." It wasn't like they were exactly alone down in the tunnels, the game makers' cameras were probably everywhere and everyone was probably listen to them talking. The thought made him really uncomfortable.

Krasimir was silent for a moment, maybe even thinking along the same lines he was, before he finally spoke up. "Livisa was my life back then. We were only a year apart and neither of us had any siblings. We lived right next to each other too, so we basically grew up together and I just…I saw it as my job to protect her from anything that was dangerous. I'm kind of like that with everyone actually." He laughed weakly. "I'd always watch over the younger kids at school and just over everyone in general. My cousin was the most important person in my life though. When her name was called her first year…I was pretty sure my world ended right then and there. I would have volunteered for her, but I couldn't and it killed me. She was so small and scared…" he trailed off.

"I'm sorry…" Reed felt bad for asking about her. He hadn't wanted to upset Krasimir at all. "I'm sure she's watching over you now, waiting for you to win." Of course, for that to happen meant Reed had to die at some point, but he wasn't going to think about that.

"Yes." Krasimir sighed. "Ever since that year I've been determined to win this thing, but when it comes down to it…back there, when I broke Rocky's nose, that's the first time I've ever really caused anyone so much harm. It's not something I feel comfortable doing and even though I did it to save my life…I regret it. I can't kill anyone, Reed."

Reed completely understood. How, when the time ever came, would he, himself, even be capable of killing another person?

"I just keep going, and knowing that I'm doing this for her helps me do so."

They had just taken a left into a new tunnel and Reed was about to respond, when a loud boom echoed all around them. They both jumped at the sudden noise, wondering what it meant. "What do you suppose-"

There was a faint, girlish scream further down their current tunnel. Before either of them had a chance to react they heard someone running towards them. Reed found himself pushed out of the way, back into the tunnel they had just left. His stupid feet tripped over themselves as he stumbled back, causing him to hit the ground hard. Barely paying attention to the pain coursing through his right shoulder, he pushed himself up off the ground, trying to focus on what was going on. Was Krasimir safe?

There was a thump, as if someone had run into something, a sharp, piercing shriek, and then whoever was running took off once more.

"Kras?" Reed was scared. This was probably the second time Krasimir had tried saving him and it would be terrible if he died because of it. A hand got hold of his arm in the darkness, but his shout of surprise was quickly cut off by another hand covering his mouth.

"Ssh, it's just me." Krasimir's voice whispered near his ear. "I don't know who that was, but she took off after running into me. Something scared her pretty badly and I'm thinking that loud boom we heard was announcing someone else's death. That means there are others around here."

Reed was able to relax once he knew it was only Krasimir who had grabbed him, but knowing there could be other tributes nearby filled him with dread. "What should we do then?"

"Well, we most definitely don't go the same way she just came from." Krasimir responded. "Are you okay? I'm sorry I pushed you. I just reacted without thinking…"

"I'm okay." Reed assured him, even though his shoulder still hurt a bit. "I guess that's twice now you've helped me out, huh?"

Krasimir laughed and took his hand again, leading the way up the tunnel. "It's nothing. Now, I'm thinking whoever scared that girl will be heading this way, so we'll keep going straight up this tunnel, the one we were in before turning left. It probably runs parallel with the one next over, so we might find a way to cross over again later on."

They continued their trek through the tunnels, both starting to wonder how much time had passed since the game's beginning. It wasn't until they had been walking for what felt like another half hour that they saw the blue circle light appear on the tunnel wall once more. This time the voice only informed them of one name. It was the boy from 6. That must have been who had died when they heard the loud boom.

"How many does that leave?" Reed asked curiously.

"13, I think."

Some sort of sound echoed back to them from up ahead in the tunnel. Both boys held still, waiting to see if anything would happen. Thanks to the recent run-in with the one tribute, and the fact that they were hearing more sounds around them, Reed was starting to feel even less safe than before.

Krasimir let go of his hand and instantly Reed felt empty, like he had just lost something important. "I'll go check and see if it's safe, okay?"

"But what if you get lost?" Reed could feel slight panic settling in.

"I won't." The older boy assured him. "I'll keep a straight line and won't make any turns. If there's nothing there I'll come right back and call for you."

The idea still did not appeal to Reed, and he knew how brave Krasimir was being at the moment considering his fear of the darkness. "Alright," Reed finally agreed reluctantly, "but if it's anything dangerous you come straight back, you hear? I'll feel horrible if you get hurt."

He heard Krasimir chuckle softly to himself and then suddenly he could hear footsteps, indicating Krasimir was walking away from where he stood. Alone, the darkness now felt twice as scary and dangerous. He reached out to find the wall next to him, feeling a tad more secure once he had something to somewhat hold on to.

"Kras?" Reed didn't hear a response. How far away was Krasimir going to go? Would he soon hear the loud, echoing boom signaling his death?

The thought of Krasimir dying made his heart ache, and Reed realized he was digging himself deeper and deeper into a very dangerous position. Only one person was allowed to survive the Hunger Games. Developing feelings for another tribute would not do him any good, especially if by some horrible chance it came down to him and that tribute being the last two left.

Reed's thoughts were interrupted by an odd rumbling sound. He looked around, eyes widening in terror as he started to feel the ground shaking beneath his feet. What was going on? Was it an earthquake of some sort? It had never occurred to him to worry about natural disasters down here in the tunnels. What if the ceiling of the tunnel they were in collapsed? Would they be trapped, never to escape?

"KRAS!" Reed called as loudly as he could, praying Krasimir was running back to him. A loud cracking sound came overhead and he looked up to see the dirt ceiling splitting above him. Not having any choice, Reed turned and ran back down the way they had just come from. He dove to the ground, covering his head with his arms, right as the area he had just been standing was blocked off by a cave-in.

Not daring to move until all the dust and rocks had settled, Reed scrambled up off the floor and ran back to where he had just stood. The rubble was dense, hardly penetrable, and Reed was unable to shift much of the big rocks. There was no way he could get through.

Suddenly he heard coughing from the other side of the rubble. "Reed?" Krasimir's voice was faint, but thankfully he could still hear it.

"Kras! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"I'm good." Reed replied, feeling relieved that Krasimir was alright. "I'll probably never get the dust out of my curls again though. Should have cut these off beforehand." He laughed humorlessly. What did it matter anyway since he most likely wasn't going to make it back up to the surface ever again?

"I like your curls." Krasimir spoke through the rock wall. If it wasn't so dark in the tunnels Reed was sure anyone could see his face go bright red. "Look, I can't get through this mess so we'll have to find some way around it."

That was not good. "Will you be alright?" Reed asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me." Krasimir told him. "Just keep yourself safe, alright? If anything else, try to see if you can find your way back to the Cornucopia and I'll do the same. That's the only real landmark I can think of."

"Okay…" Reed replied quietly. He didn't want to leave Krasimir like this. The thought of Krasimir being alone, wandering in the darkness he was so scared of, worried Reed and made him all the more determined to find his way back to the huge, well-lit cavern that they had started this whole mess in.

Once they had finally said their farewells, Reed realized that, while he did have some survival supplies with him, he was weaponless. He had nothing to defend himself with if he accidentally ran into one of the other tributes.


	11. Chapter 10

The darkness was several times more threatening now that he was once more alone. He had told Reed he would be fine, but that may have been more lie than truth.

Reed had walked off about ten minutes ago already, his footsteps slow and cautious as he went. Krasimir had wanted to call after him one last time, but he knew he was being foolish. He could do this.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm his nerves, and rapidly beating heart, Krasimir let go of the rock in front of him and turned around, starting a slow, cautious walk down the tunnel. Why hadn't the prospect of encountering natural disasters down here occurred to him? What if the cave-in hadn't even been from natural causes? Everything seemed so solid and sturdy down here. The game makers could have incorporated the cave-in into the arena's design during its creation – it would not have been difficult to place a sensor somewhere to set off the cave-in once someone walked by it.

This led to an even bigger question: what other dangers existed down here, and how could they surpass them when visibility was practically out of the question in the tunnels?

Krasimir realized his negative thinking could potentially put him in a dangerous position, so he decided to focus upon his current goals: 1. Find some source of water (because how could there not be? The game makers saw to it that there was at least one source of water in each arena every year now) and 2. Find a way back to the Cornucopia and hopefully meet up with Reed once more.

If it wasn't so dark and he had a mirror of some sort, he was positive he would see his face going red at the thought of his new friend. Reed was adorable. His clumsiness was endearing, and Krasimir was pretty sure he would be devastated if Reed cut off his curls.

He should have listened to Wren. He should not have been his overly friendly self, and he should not have allowed his thoughts to constantly stray back to the adorable tribute from District 1. Saving Reed's life had pretty much sealed it for Krasimir; he _wanted_ to be friends with Reed and he could not stand the idea of something bad happening to him. Even now, walking cautiously through the darkness he feared, Krasimir was worrying more and more about how Reed was doing. It was dangerous; what if he survived till the end, only to realize it came down to himself and Reed? He had promised himself nothing would come in between his self and victory, but he knew how he reacted to certain things. The odds of him being able to kill Reed, after allowing himself to develop any sort of feelings, friendship or something more, were slim to none. He was dreading hearing the echoing boom, signaling the death of another tribute, knowing it could possibly be Reed.

The area of the tunnel he had reached before the cave-in was fast approaching. When he had first been here, checking to make sure there were no other tributes around, he had been relieved to find the area was deserted. There had been sounds up ahead, however, and Krasimir hadn't wanted to worry Reed by telling him so after they had been separated. Now he would have to be extra careful, just in case whoever had been up ahead had heard the cave-in and was considering checking out what was going on. Fortunately, the further he went along the tunnel the more he was convinced whoever had been up ahead was long since gone.

He needed to find a branch off from the current tunnel he was in. The direction Reed had to take after the cave-in was at least in the right direction for the cavern they started out in. Now he had to find a way to turn around and head that way as well.

Just as he was starting to feel a little frustrated, his hand slipped off the rocky wall to his right and was met with air. He turned and started heading down the new tunnel. A little ways in it curved to the left and he went around, pausing in surprise at what he saw.

There was light ahead. It was faint, but it was still light nonetheless. Thrilled to finally get out of the darkness for hopefully at least a little bit, Krasimir sped up, feeling relieved as the light grew steadily brighter.

The light led him to another huge, open cavern. This one was not as huge as the one they had all started out in, but it was still big enough. The room was relatively square shaped and hanging from the ceiling, in the middle of the entire room, was another huge iron chandelier that held a small ball of flame.

Krasimir was wary, however, since he was now aware of the fact that there could possibly be more natural dangers awaiting him in the arena. Having yet stepped out of the tunnel he was in to enter the huge cavern, he inspected the room as much as he could from where he was. On each of the other sides of the room there was one tunnel leading off, each just as dark looking as the one he stood in. The cavern itself was practically empty. Some rocks and boulders were settled about, specifically in the corners of the room, but besides those and the iron chandelier the room was empty. Still being cautious, Krasimir reached down, feeling about until he found a fairly heavy, medium sized rock that was lying nearby in the runnel. Once he had picked it up he tossed it out, as far as he could, into the center of the cavern.

The rock hit the ground, but there was no heavy thump upon impact. Instead there was a soft thump, barely audible from where he stood, and, as he watched, the rock sunk into the dirt floor, the surrounding area of ground moving slightly after impact. Suddenly the lighted cavern did not seem as inviting as it had just a moment ago. Whatever the flooring was in here it was not all solid, and somehow Krasimir had to find his way through it.


	12. Chapter 11

The dark and lonely atmosphere was getting to Reed, but the fact that the tunnels were empty meant he was still safe.

Well, not necessarily. Thanks to the cave-in, the dark, empty tunnels no longer seemed as safe as they once almost did. Danger could possibly now lurk beyond every bend and turn. Reed had lost all sense of direction and honestly had no idea which way to go to return to the Cornucopia.

It had been a while since he left Krasimir and already Reed missed him terribly. He wondered how the older tribute was faring in the dark, alone. Krasimir seemed really brave and strong, but for some reason there was something about the dark that really frightened him. Reed shook his head, trying not to think too much about his new friend. He needed to focus on staying alive himself.

The tunnels continued to twist and turn and Reed was getting tired. It did not help that he kept tripping occasionally, stumbling over heavy rocks and his own feet. Finally he decided it was time for a break. He slumped down against one of the tunnel walls, leaning heavily against the dirty surface.

It might have been that he was too tired to notice at first, but only a moment or so after having sat down did he realize the dirt wall behind him was caving slightly behind his back. Confused, Reed turned around and pressed his hand upon the wall of the tunnel. He could not see anything, but he could feel dirt giving away and crumbling down due to the pressure his hand was putting upon it. This was definitely different. Worried that he would bring another cave-in upon himself, Reed pulled his hand away, wondering what to do. What if there was something beyond the wall? It could be a different tunnel or even a secret room. Was it worth checking out despite the possible risk of another cave-in?

Reed decided that, yes, it was. Anything that might help him make progress had to be a good thing. So he carefully starting scraping at the dirt wall again, using both hands this time and not letting himself think about the state his fingernails were going to be in afterward. Normally that sort of thing would bother him, but the time had probably passed for worrying about dirt under nails or in hair.

As the dirt caved away and the hole in the wall became bigger, Reed realized there was faint light coming through. Eager for a chance to get out of the darkness finally, Reed tore away the dirt. The hole in the wall was getting wider and soon he would be able to slip through. He paused a moment to take a break, his arms aching from the work they were not used to, and took a second to peek through the hole. What he saw surprised him. The flooring on the other side of the hole was stone, cracked, dirty gray stone. It seemed to continue the entire way across the floor to the other wall. Whatever was giving the room light seemed to be located higher up upon that wall. Once he started working away at the dirt hole again he continued with much energy, feeling hopeful that whatever was on the other side was going to lead him somewhere better than the dark, dirty tunnels he had spent hours and hours in.

Finally he was able to slip through, making sure to drag his bag along with him. The air was a lot less stuffy in this new area, although a bit chillier. Reed stood and looked about, brushing the dirt off his self as best he could. He was in what looked to be a stone corridor. The light was coming from a torch that was mounted upon the wall. This was definitely different than the dark, dirty tunnels. He examined the wall he had just dug through and realized the small area was the only part of the wall there that was not covered with stone. Was it just this spot or were there more spots down the corridor that could be broken through from the dirt tunnels? Nothing to do but investigate; the corridor stretched in two directions, going on as far as the eye could see. More torches lined the walls every ten feet so Reed felt much more comfortable and safe.

Further down the corridor Reed spotted another dirt spot, this time on the opposite wall. It looked untouched, but was big enough that if someone dug through from the other side they could make it out into the corridor as well. Now that Reed knew his spot was not the only one he knew he had to be cautious. Other tributes might have been lucky enough to have made his discovery as well. He could only hope Krasimir would be just as lucky.

He was just about to continue walking when a loud boom echoed off the stone walls of the corridor. His heart just about stopped and without thinking he let out a choked, quiet 'Kras?' There was no way to know which tribute had died until the Capitol's symbol showed up again on the wall. The tears pooling in his eyes made him feel silly. Why did he care so much? Even if they both survived till the end, only one of them was allowed to live and win the Games. Either way it would be terrible if he allowed himself to care, only to find out in the end it wasn't mutual. Krasimir had been waiting five years to win the Games after his cousin's death. Someone like Reed was no match for him. Maybe he was going about this wrong. Maybe it would be best if he didn't meet up with Krasimir again. He had to continue trying to survive for himself. If he happened to run into Krasimir along the way, well, then…he just did not know. He just needed to continue focusing on his main goal: surviving, any way possible, and right now that meant figuring out where this stone corridor led to.

Hopefully he had not just escaped the dark maze of tunnels only to find his self in a _lighted_ maze of tunnels. There had to be something more to all of this. Reed just had to keep on moving and be alert for any signs of danger.

The corridor did go on and on for ages, but it was not long before Reed found something that cheered him up at least a little bit. He had been walking for a while when he finally saw an opening in the right wall of the corridor. The entrance led to an upward leading staircase of crumbling stone. The big question now was whether he continued down the corridor he was in or take a right and head up the stairs.

A faint sound of trickling water quickly grabbed his attention and helped him make up his mind. He took a right and carefully started up the steps, doing his best not to trip. It would be just his luck to trip up another staircase in front of everyone again. They were probably expecting him to do so too.

He reached the mid-way point of the stone staircase without incident. That was when he saw the small stream of water running down the stone wall next to him. The stream flowed down from the ceiling and disappeared through a good sized hole in the staircase, right at the base of the wall. He could not see down through the hole for it was too dark below, but that was not something he was entirely worried about. There was finally water in front of him and that was what was most important. The bag he had grabbed at the start of the Games had held a small empty container of some sort, not exactly something meant to be used as a canteen, but it had a lid and would do. He needed to carry water with him somehow anyway. After all it would probably be just as pathetic as falling down the stairs if he died from dehydration, not that it hadn't happened in the games before.

Now that he had water with him he felt a bit better and more motivated to carry on. He wondered where the stairs were leading and what he would find once he got there. And, as much as he was trying not to think about it, he could not stop wondering when he would get to find out which tribute had just died.


	13. Chapter 12

No matter what way it was thought through, Krasimir just could not figure out how to either cross or get around the huge cavern without the threat of sinking into the floor. Upon closer inspection he had noticed the dirt floor itself was a slightly lighter shade than that of the tunnel he had just come from. He was unfamiliar with this sort of dirt. Most of the dirt he worked with at home in District 11 was dark, only lighter when dried out. He had thrown rocks, taken from the tunnel he had come from, into the room at several different spots. Every part of the floor he had thrown rocks at had not been solid, except for the edges where there were some rocks and such in the corners of the room. He could skirt the edge of the room, but it was impossible to tell if the edges of the cavern were solid the entire way around or not. There was no point in risking his life to find out, right?

He was just about to give up, figuring he may as well turn back and find another way – despite his reluctance to leave the lighted cavern – when he saw movement on the opposite side of the room. Looking across he realized it was a person stepping out from the opposite tunnel; another tribute, the girl from District 7. Krasimir could not remember her name, but he recognized her by her short, choppy blond haircut.

It did not take long for the girl to catch sight of him. She froze, seemingly unsure of whether she should turn back or run for one of the other tunnels. There was no look of a challenge in her gaze, just fear and the need to survive. Krasimir, himself, did not know what to do. Should he turn back now and just leave her, or should he warn her about the flooring?

He never got a chance to decide. The girl seemed to make up her mind before he had made up his own, choosing to make a break for one of the other tunnels. She only made a few steps out into the cavern before she was instantly sucked about thigh-deep down into the floor. Her startled shriek pierced the silence surrounding them, echoing off the cavern walls.

Krasimir did not feel right just standing there. He wanted to help the girl so badly, but what could he do? She was too far away for him to reach her and he had nothing to throw out for her to grab on to. There was no way he could run across to her either, because he would just get stuck too and then they would both be in trouble. The only good thing about the situation was that she had not gone under yet. There had to be a way to help somehow.

"Stop struggling!" He shouted, hoping the flailing girl would hear him and listen.

"How else am I supposed to get out of here?!" The girl snapped at him. Her voice was slightly faint coming from across the room, but Krasimir could hear it and that was at least somewhat helpful.

"I don't know what this stuff is, but maybe if you stand still you won't sink too fast." Krasimir told her. "I've been throwing rocks in here for a while now trying to figure out where it's safe to cross. So far no luck, but there has to be some way I can get to you…"

He was pretty sure he heard her muttering something along the lines of 'could have told me before I tried running across' but it was hard to tell. At least she had stopped flailing about now. "What's your name?"

The girl looked absolutely terrified, but seemed to be doing her best to stay calm. "Tracey. And you're that Krasimir fellow from 11."

"Yeah." Krasimir nodded. "Look…can you move your legs any? I'm wondering if you try to move slowly you can get back to where you were and out of this."

Tracey looked doubtful but she tried squirming a little bit. The flooring made squelching noises as she tried to move. "I think it's working…slightly." She called over, continuing to carefully move. It looked like she was able to lift her legs a tiny bit, but was still having difficulty moving about. "This is going to take forever!" Tracey wailed, starting to panic once more.

"No, no, you'll be fine." Krasimir spoke reassuringly, trying to keep her from freaking out too much. "If it takes a long time then it takes a long time. You'll just have to rest a bit to keep from wearing yourself out. Just don't give up – you want to live, right?" He just did not want to see someone die.

"I doubt I'll live either way." Tracey scoffed, still struggling to get free of the cavern floor.

"Not with that attitude you won't." Krasimir told her. "C'mon, you can do this…"

Her efforts were starting to become a bit too frantic for his liking. Tracey was starting to panic again and Krasimir wasn't sure what else he could do to help her. He was about to speak up again when he saw her finally jerk a leg free of the floor.

Before he could encourage her to keep it up something terrible happened. With another shriek Tracey tumbled right over, face first on the floor. Her automatic flailing did not help her gain purchase to anything and she could barely lift her face up. If she couldn't stand up again or turn over she would most likely suffocate and, well, drown in whatever the floor was made of.

Krasimir shouted and tried to tell her to not give up but Tracey's flailing was starting to become very sluggish. Either she was worn out, suffocating, or just…giving up. It wasn't a thought Krasimir wanted to think about, but, in a way, was it better to die like this than having someone else murder you?

Finally Tracey stopped moving, her backside just barely visible above the floor's surface. Krasimir didn't know what to do. She was dead. The sudden boom that echoed off the cavern's walls confirmed it. His eyes started watering and he stumbled back into the tunnel he had come from, not wanting to be in the cavern with a dead body. He had tried. He had tried to help her, but he hadn't been good enough. This wasn't what he wanted. He did not want to watch people die, not when he could have done more to help. Suddenly what he wanted most in the world was to be home, back in District 11, with his family and Andrei, able to smell the familiar scent of plants and wet soil; and he wanted Reed, the only other person down here capable of giving him some comfort.

He had to pull himself together. Obviously he was not getting through the huge cavern so he needed to find some way around it, or at least find somewhere else that was lighted again. He started back down the tunnel he had come from, feeling his way along the dirt wall. Recalling that getting in this tunnel he had taken a right, Krasimir knew he had to take another right to continue going the way he would have gone if he hadn't ventured towards the cavern in the first place. Hopefully if he found another tunnel heading right again he could find himself near the cavern with the weird flooring yet be somewhere else around it.

Luck was with him; a short ways down the tunnel he found another new one leading towards the right. Turning, he kept his hand along the wall as he carefully continued walking. It wasn't long before he started to notice a change. A faint sound was coming from up ahead, and it sounded like running water. Now that was something to be excited about. Since the start of the games he hadn't found water once.

The source of the running water noise was a waterfall. Krasimir found himself walking out of his current tunnel into another huge cavern that contained an underground lake. The cavern was lighted with a huge, iron chandelier hanging from its ceiling, the light shining clear through the shallow depth of the soft blue water. In the far left corner of the room was a huge pile of boulders and rocks, the waterfall washing down over it. There seemed to be a huge gap of some kind near the ceiling above the boulders that the water was coming through. Krasimir wasn't too curious yet about what could potentially be above him and the cavern; the water was a bit more important. He wanted to assume it was safe to drink, but at the same time he wondered if he should be cautious.

Glancing about the room he noticed that to the right of the cavern there was another tunnel leading off. There was one across the room as well. Walking around the edge of the lake, Krasimir glanced down the first tunnel. It was dark, but he was sure he saw some form of light up ahead. Deciding he may as well investigate since it was not too far, he walked down the tunnel and watched as the light grew brighter. The tunnel led out right into a huge cavern, the same exact one he had been in only a short bit ago with Tracey. Somehow her body had already disappeared. Whether it had sunk further under the flooring or retrieved by Capitol people, he did not know.

Krasimir was just glad he had managed to get around the cavern without having to go through it. He turned around and went back to the cavern with the lake, figuring he may as well test the water before investigating the other new tunnel. Kneeling by the water's edge, he carefully let a finger touch the surface, watching as ripples gently flowed out by the water's disturbance. Nothing happened, and the water felt cool leading him to give in and taste it. When he didn't immediately feel ill or anything, he decided it was safe and would be just fine drinking some more and then taking some with him for when he continued walking. For now he sat next to the water, attempting to relax as much as he could while listening to the rush of the waterfall. It wasn't long before he lay down on the dirt floor, letting his eyes slowly drift closed.


End file.
